Mystery
by xManicx
Summary: Two weeks after 'Trouble', Mikey finds a wierd, ancient medallion. When nothing makes sense and he keeps it a secret, he's sure to find that there's nothing worse than going it alone.
1. Chapter 1

**Takes place two weeks after 'Trouble'**

Michelangelo smiled to himself as remembered the groans and moans of two of his older brothers being lectured in the back room when Splinter had caught them sneaking out.

He chuckled to himself before seeing Leo giving him a death glare and he instantly stopped smiling and lowered his eyeline to avoid contact with Leo's.

He hobbled over to the arm chair and stopped with his back facing it. That was one giant draw back from their 'little training run' that they had gone on. What did he look like! Walking around with an old walking stick under one arm and a bulky bandaged ankle.

Leo watched as his brother stood in front of the chair, leaning back a bit every now and then but jerking back up again when he decided it wasn't the best way to try and get himself into the chair. It took him several minutes to figure out how to lever himself down into the low chair. Finally, he decided on just falling backwards onto it, lifting his leg as far off the ground as he could so as not to inflict any pain onto it.

Mikey sank into the soft pillows of the chair and sighed, closing his eyes. A few moments later, he opened them again only to lock gazes with Leo. Once again, he looked away, this time staring up at the ceiling.

Not wanting to move his gaze anywhere else, he rolled through in his mind what Master Splinter had said to him while bandaging his ankle.

_Michelangelo, have you ever wondered why Leonardo never disobeys me? Have you ever wondered why, instead of having fun with you and your brothers, he chooses to train? That is because it is his responsibility, he wants to keep you safe, if he did not train he would not be able to protect you and your brothers like he needs to. What if he was not here someday, what would happen? What if I was not here? This family would not be as it is now. For one, it would be broken. You three take this for granted. Raphael does nothing but argue with Leonardo, when all he is trying to do is keep you safe. It is not easy for your brother._

Mikey already knew that it wasn't right that Raph and Leo fought so much, but he didn't think of it in a way that it would put so much pressure on Leo. What would happen if Leo was gone? Would Raph care? Of course he would! He couldn't believe he just asked himself that!

But what would happen then?

He thought back to the time when they were at Casey's grandma's farm house, they had almost lost Leo. He remembered the tears shed, most of them from Raph actually. He remembered the pang of sadness he had felt every time he looked at his half dead brother on the couch. He remembered how, when everyone else was asleep, he had come to Leo's side and tried to speak to him. Remembered that it only ended with him breaking down in tears, even if Leo could have heard him, he wouldn't have been able to tell what he was saying through all the sobbing. He remembered the relief and happiness he had felt when his brother had opened his eyes...

And, now that he thought about it, what would happen if _any_ of his brother's were gone? They had experienced way too many close calls for his liking.

Like the time when the foot clan had over powered Raph and the rest of his family didn't even know he was in trouble. The shock and worry when Raph had smashed through the ceiling of April's apartment. The guilt he felt when he realized that if they had gone to see what was wrong with Raph when he was up on the roof, that if may not have happened.

Or the time when Donny had been turned into a monster, he had to guiltily admit, that had been the worst of the three. Mike was closer to Donatello than any of his brothers. He felt bad when Don had merely fallen ill, when they didn't even know about the danger ahead. Looking at his brother in the containment unit had felt like death itself, he could have broken down there and then, standing in front of the container. He had felt like crawling under a rock and never coming out. Don never deserved it. And when Leather Head had said that he might not have been able to change him back, he literally felt his world dying.

That brought him onto another concerning thing.

Leo had said that when Don was in the monster form, he kept forgetting that the brainiac wasn't there with . He kept turning around to ask Don what we should do next, if there was a cure, but he wasn't there. What if Leatherhead hadn't been there? They wouldn't have been able to cure Don.

That was the thing that worried him the most. If one of his brothers weren't there anymore, they wouldn't be able to do anything. That scared him.

He finally looked up at Leo, who had been studying him this whole time.

"What's up?" His older brother asked him, shifting along to the edge of the couch so he was nearer to Mikey.

"Nothin', why?" Mike said innocently.

"You expect me to believe that? You just went five minutes without saying anything, there must be something wrong," Leo said smiling at him.

"Nah, I was just thinking." Mikey said, he wasn't paying enough attention to realize that Leo had just made fun of him.

Leo's face fell when he didn't get any reaction to his joke. But before the blue masked turtle could say anything, Don came through the door from his lab and walked to sit in the chair next to Mikey.

"What're we watchin'?" he asked them.

Suddenly, Mikey's feeling took over him and his eyes started to tear up. Before his brothers knew what was going on, Mikey had thrown his arms around both of their necks and pulled them into a hug.

The stunned turtles looked at each other over Mike's shoulders with confused expressions. Leo was about to question what was happening, but they were interrupted by someone saying, "Uh, did I miss something?"

Mike let go of his brothers to turn around and saw Raph standing in the doorframe. He took this opportunity, while his brothers were watching Raph, to wipe his eyes away and get his face back to its normal state.

"Mm, no." He said slowly, "I was just... going to get some snacks for the movie we were about to watch." He said and jumped up quickly, forgetting that he had a broken ankle. He screwed up his face to prevent him from swearing and limped as fast as his walking stick would let him, into the kitchen.

**I'm sorry, but am I the only person that wanted to give Don a big hug when he was ill? **

**Please review**


	2. Chapter 2

When he reached the kitchen, Michelangelo sighed and looked back to his brothers in the other room. He needed to go topside for some air, but that would be kinda hard with his busted ankle.

He dropped into a chair at the kitchen table and propped his chin up with his arms, elbows resting on the table

Looking around the kitchen dazedly, he caught sight of the clothes they normally used when they needed to go out around humans.

"Mikey!" Raph's voice came from the other room, "What you doin with those snacks?"

Deciding he didn't feel much like watching a movie, he made his was over to the cupboard and rummaged through it. He pulled out three bags of chips and a sack of popcorn. Balancing them all in his arms, he moved to the door and threw all four towards the couch.

He listened as his brother grumbled about being pelted with food and turned back into the kitchen.

The clothes were in a pile on the floor. He grabbed a few items, not caring if they belonged to him or any of his brothers. He stepped into a baggy pair of track suit pants that Raph normally wore; he had found them in the dump a couple of weeks ago. The elastic in them was snapped so they waist of them could fit over their shells.

Then he pulled a grey jumper over his head, his shell making him look like he had a hunch back, and slipped on a long grey trench coat, covering any green part of his body that hadn't already been covered.

He looked down at himself, he looked really fat. And he didn't think he could walk around the town in these clothes, looking like a penniless person who had been wearing these clothes for two years straight. But they would do for just slipping past a couple of humans.

He grabbed his custom made sneakers from the floor. Donny had found four pairs of shoes in a dumpster and altered them, adding material to make them bigger so they would fit their oddly shaped feet.

As he went to put one on his right foot, he realised that he wouldn't be able to get it onto his foot with the bulky bandage round his leg. Instead, he grabbed Leo's slightly bigger trainers and stepped into them.

Then he looked at his walking stick, that would not look normal, especially since the stick was almost four inches too short for him. Don had said that he would make him some crutches, or at least extend the stick, but had never gotten round to it.

He decided that this would be a good time to try and find some other things to prop himself up with. But once he found some, what was he going to do with Splinter's stick? He couldn't just leave it out there, he knew that it was precious to his sensei. He didn't actually know _why _mind you.

Then he spotted a long metal rod along the floor border of the kitchen. He picked it up and wedged it under his arm. This would do until he got above ground and found something else.

He propped Splinter's stick carefully against the wall.

Deciding he was ready to go, he reached round the knot of the ninja mask at the back of his head. He only just managed to untie the tight knot and not lose his balance on one leg.

He placed the mask lovingly over the back of a chair. He didn't want _anything _to happen to it (plus, a ninja mask would kinda be a bit of a give away). He then grabbed an orange scarf from near the door. He wrapped it around him and adjusted it so it covered most of the lower part of his face.

He headed for the door and placed his hand on the panel next to it. He waited as the giant door slowly slid open, feeling the cold air from the sewers flood into the lair. Grabbing, his orange hat from the side of the door, he limped out and disappeared into the sewers.

XXX

"Where the shell's Mikey?" Raph asked for the third time since the movie had started.

"Well, obviously he decided not to watch it!" Answered Leo, getting annoyed because he couldn't hear the film.

"Why wouldn't he want to watch Avatar? It seems like his kind of film." Don said a bit worriedly.

"Really, Don? 'Mikey's kind of film'? No, Mikey's kind of film would be something to do with Sonic The Hedgehog or some other weird cartoon like that."

"Well, where would he have gone then?" Leo asked, though still staring at the TV. In all truth, he found the film fascinating.

"You think it has anything to do with that weird moment before he went into the kitchen?" Don asked, pointing something out that none of them had taken much notice of.

"Maybe, I better go see what he's doin. Keep the film playing, I'll pick up on it when I get back." Leo said reluctantly, standing up, keeping his eyes on the screen for as long as he could before it became out of sight.

"We weren't gonna stop it anyway." Raph said, stuffing a handful of chips in his mouth. Leo rolled his eyes and headed for Mikey's room.

"Michelangelo?" He called as he knocked on Mikey's bedroom door,"You in there? Mike?"

After getting no response, Leo slowly pushed the door open and peered inside, "Michelangelo?" He looked around tentatively.

There was a bunk bed pushed up against the far wall and a cluttered desk with one of Donatello's old laptops on it. Not that everywhere else in the room wasn't cluttered; shelves of comic books and action figures lined the walls of the room. The bottom bunk of the bed had been made into a sofa pull out bed, scattered with discards potato chip packets and pizza boxes.

Leo scrunched up his nose, he had a feeling that those pizza boxes weren't actually empty, when he found Mike he would have to have a talk with him about cleaning his room. He opened the door a little more and slipped inside. He walked around the room half expecting Mike to jump out at him at any moment.

Suddenly, he felt a sharp pain surge through his foot; he looked down to see that he had just stood on one of Mike's toy cars. He hopped around for almost a minute while clutching his foot.

After the pain in his foot had gone away, he bent down to pick up the car.

"...Oops..." That wasn't just a normal toy car. That was Mike's remote control toy car.

He placed it, along with all its broken pieces, on the desk. He would have to remember to ask Don to fix it later. Serves him right anyway, for leaving it in the middle of the floor.

Finally, he picked his way back to the door, being careful not to stand on anything. He squeezed through the narrow gap, being able to open it no further because of the avalanche of junk that was sure to happen if he disrupted anything.

"Leonardo." A voice came from behind, literally making him jump about a foot in the air. He whipped around to see Master Splinter standing there.

"Yes sensei?" He said.

"Is everything alright my son? Why were you in Michelangelo's room?" He asked suspiciously.

Leo thought quickly. If Mikey wasn't in the lair, then he must be either out in the sewers somewhere, or top side. And, unless he's taking lessons from Raph, he will have a good reason for it. He better not rat him out to Splinter before he knew what was going on... ha ha... rat, Splinter, ha ha. Stay focused!

"Yes, everything is OK. Michelangelo just told me to go and get something from his room." He smiled.

Splinter looked at him suspiciously and then just shook his head ,"You are not you brother's servant, next time, tell him to go and get it himself."

"Yes, Sensei" He said before slipping past the rat and back into the main chamber of the lair to his brothers.

**=] Please review**


	3. Chapter 3

Pulling himself up through the manhole, Michelangelo scrunched up his face in effort, putting all the strength he had into his arms and levering himself out of the sewers. Going out on his own with a jacked up ankle, not one of his best ideas.

It had taken him almost three times as long as it normally did for him to get through the sewers. It had then taken him at least twenty minutes to climb up the series of ladders and pipes and to the surface. Once he was out of the manhole, he staggered off to the side of the alley and leant against a dumpster, breathing heavily. He was too exhausted to walk at the moment. Wow, he was beginning to sound like all those old people he had seen on TV. He brought a hand up to his plastron to steady his breathing.

_Bugger!_

He looked down to see his green skinned hand. He must have forgotten to put gloves on before he came out. Usually, it was ok because he just kept his hands in the pockets of the coat.

Oh well, he could find something to put on them later. He looked up at the blue sky and watched the clouds move along it. He thought about what he was doing. Why was he doing this again? He wasn't even supposed to go top side at all on his own in the daylight. Now he was topside, on his own, on the street instead of the roofs, with a busted leg. And he hadn't even told anyone he was going.

He banged his head backwards and hit the dumpster. He sighed and then pushed himself of the wall. He began to walk to the end of the alley when he felt himself getting dizzy. He stopped and brought a hand to his forehead.

All of a sudden his sight started to blur, it was going fuzzy. He staggered backwards and reached out for the wall's support. He leant against it and then his vision went black, only for a couple of seconds.

Pictures of Leo, lying on the couch, unconscious, flashed into his mind. Then of Raph, beaten and bruised, lying on the floor. Now of Don, in his monster form. Now Splinter, lying at the mercy of the shredder's sword. Then, of himself, when he had been knocked out by the shredder in the Utrom brain machine.

Someone started to scream, endless screaming and screaming. Then April's voice "Help! Somebody please help! He will die! Please no!" She screamed from the darkness.

Suddenly, his vision came back and he was back in the alley. That had taken place in a matter of a couple of seconds. His brow furrowed, what had just happened? He shook his head, it was just a dizzy spell, probably something to do with the pain killers Don had been giving him for his leg.

He shook it off and looked back towards the sewer grate. He knew he ought to go back in case this was serious. Then he thought of limping through the tunnels of the sewers and decided he could handle any dizziness that could be thrown at him. If anything got too bad, he would call someone on his shell cell.

With that he made his way out of the alley and headed towards the hospital of the town

XXX

"What do you mean he's not here?" Raph asked, still looking at the TV screen, obviously not really bothered with what Leo was saying but was pretending he was.

"He's not in the lair. He probably went topside." Leo replied, folding his arms and raising an eyebrow at Raph's attidude.

"With a walking stick?" Don said, also raising an eyebrow.

"Go look for him then, Mister Leader." Raph said and he finally turned away from the TV because he couldn't hear it over them anyway.

"Nah, he's probably just thinking about something Leo. Just leave him for a bit. Wait an hour and if he's still not back, go look for him." Don said, fed up with the conversation and turning back to the film.

"But if he's not back in an hour, then something might have happened. Something that wouldn't have happened if I would have gone now." Leo said, tapping his foot agitatedly.

"Huh?" Raph said, confused.

"Never mind." Leo rolled his eyes slightly

_Mikey could take care of himself, how much trouble could he get into. Wait! This is Michelangelo we're talking about! And with a broken ankle too! I better go and..._

"My sons." His thoughts were interrupted by Master Splinter coming into the room," It is time for training."

Raph and Don groaned as they flicked off the TV set. The rat ignored them and looked around the room, " Where is Michelangelo?" He asked.

"He's, uh, sleeping" Leo answered.

Splinter raised an eyebrow, obviously suspecting something was up, but decided to over look it, " Very well, we will leave him be for now. Now, into the Do-Jo" he ordered and the three turtles hurried in.

Mike will have to manage on his own for now.

XXX

Mike hobbled down the back streets of new York, trying to pick his way to the hospital. It was harder to find his way around when he was on the floor than it was on the roof tops. Every now and then he would cut through an alley in between two buildings and peek out into the main streets to see where he was. The last time he had checked he had been about three blocks away from the hospital. He rounded a sharp corner and sped up his pace.

_Right, I should be at the entrance of the hospital right about...now_

He stopped and quickly ducked through an awning. Right, so now he would have to cross the street. He looked left and right to see a good chance to walk into the crowd of people.

_Three...two...one_

He straightened from his crouching position and pushed off into the crowd of people. He was shorter than most of them and found it hard to stay in a straight line as he couldn't see where on earth he was heading. When he finally found his way out of the side of the crowd, he made his way to the edge of the street and waited with the other pedestrians waiting to cross. He kept his head down and ignored the strange looks people were giving him and his clothes.

This was really dangerous, he knew it was. _Please don't let them recognise me. Please don't let them recognise me. Please don't let them recognise me. _He chanted over and over in his head.

When there was a gap in the traffic, every one dashed over the road quickly. He was quite a bit slower because of his ankle and the only thing he had to hold his balance was a metal pole with poor grip and was left by the crowd and was crossing the street on his own.

As he walked, he looked anxiously at the cars in front of him. Threatening to run him over if he didn't move quicker.

Suddenly he felt something grab onto his arm. He looked down surprised to see a little boy on his right and a small girl on his left. He absent mindedly recoiled his un-covered hands into the sleeves of his coat.

"Come on mister, you'll need to move quicker than that if you don't want to get run over." the little boy said, supporting his right arm and holding the metal pole upright.

He looked down at them, slightly taken aback. When they reached the other side of the road, he stopped and turned to them, "Thank you." He said hesitantly, then turned to get away from them as quickly as he could.

He was stopped when the girl spoke and gripped onto the sleeve of the trench coat. "It's OK. You looked like you were struggling, is something wrong with your leg?"

"Um, yeah. I hurt it" Mikey said urgently.

"You should get some proper crutches," said the boy. "I dislocated my knee before and I had to have some."

"Actually I was just on my way to get some" Mikey said to him.

"The hospital is just down the road, do you need some help?" The boy asked.

"No, I'm fine." Mike answered them with a tinge of annoyance, "Where's your parents?"

The girl pointed off to the right, "There. But she's not out parent. She said we should come and help you." She smiled.

"Save you from gettin' squished." The boy laughed. My blinked. This boy reminded him so much of a younger Raph...it was scary.

Mikey looked at where the girl was pointing. He saw a young woman, a little older than April standing there watching them. The little girl waved at her and she smiled at them and waved back hesitantly. This woman must be mad, sending her kids off to go and assist random scrufians every minute.

"She won't mind us just walking to the hospital," The girl said as she turned back to Mikey.

"Ok then," he sighed. "If you must." They started walking, one child supporting each side of him.

"So, what're your names?" he asked them, subtly pulling his scarf up over his face and his hat further down.

"My name's Emily," The girl replied.

"And I'm Jake" The boy smiled.

"What are you called" Emily asked him.

"Uh," he hesitated. You don't get many people called Michelangelo in New York City, "Mike." he said, subconsciously bringing his hands further into him sleeves while still trying to keep grip on the pole.

"Is it short for Michael?" Jake asked.

"...Yeah." Well, it was half his name...

"That's a nice name." Said Emily as they reached the entrance of the hospital.

"Here ya go Mike." Jake said," Hope yer leg gets better soon." he said and began to turn away.

"Bye!" Emily said cheerily and they both ran back to the woman standing at the end if the street. She looked at him and he smiled and waved sheepishly. She then put an arm around each of the children and turned to leave.

Mikey's eyes widened as he saw what was printed on the back of her jack 'Children's home'.

Emily and Jake lived at the local children's home? The children's home was also joined with the children's hospice, who's to say that they didn't have an illness. Mikey frowned as he looked after them. He felt his heart do an odd little leap thing. He sighed as his attention was drawn to a flashing light display hanging in the front of a large shop window. Christmas lights, hanging in the window of the toy emporium, one of the biggest shops in the square.

He had a feeling that Emily and Jake weren't going to have the Christmas they deserved. They had no family to spend it with.

He thought about his own family, they did their best to make Christmas special. Last year they had invited friends from the Battle Nexus. Mikey treasured every Christmas like it was one of the most precious things on earth. Because, with a life like theirs, you never know how many you have left.

He shook the thought from his brain and turned to the hospital. He certainly wasn't planning on going inside. He looked around him. No one would pay any attention to what looked like a beggar off the street slip into the skip behind the hospital. He dashed quickly around the side of the building and into the dump. He looked around the piles of trash

_I thought hospitals were supposed to be overly hygienic. Now I know how they do it, they chuck all the dirt out the back window!_

He walked around the junk for a while, being cautious for any security cameras. After a few minutes, he found what he was looking for, an old pair of crutches. He picked them up and examined them for a moment, wondering why they were thrown away in the first place. Oh well, it couldn't hurt him.

He slipped into them, taking a minute to adjust them to the right height. There. He walked around for a few minutes to get used to them. It was much easier to walk now. He wouldn't even need them for that much longer anyway.

He debated whether to go home, or to have a bit of a wonder around. He could try and get himself up onto a roof top... No, trying to get from one building to another on crutches. Not a good idea.

He decided he might as well go for a little walk through the back alleys on his way home. He would have to be extra careful to not bump into any Purple Dragons of Foot clans. He stayed still got a few minutes while he tried to figure out the best route to get home.

He chose his route and set off.


	4. Chapter 4

"Wow, that was some work out." Don moaned as he stretched his arms and headed towards his lab.

"Hold on Don, can you check your cell? You got anything from Mike?" Leo asked him while picking up his own shell cell and checking for a message.

"I got nothing." Raph said also flipping out his cell.

"Me neither, I'm gonna call him." Leo said worriedly. He punched some numbers into the phone and held it to the side of his head.

He waited as he heard it ringing.

"Hello?" He breathed a sigh of relief as he heard Mike's voice on the other end of the line.

But he needed to remember why he called," Michelangelo! Where the shell are you?"

"Relax Leo! I just went out for a breather." Mikey said casually.

"Why did you need a breather? What's up?" Leo asked, his voice coming out short and snappy.

"Nothin'. I'm ok now"

"Well get your tail back here now." Leo said coldly.

"But I need to get something from April's and..." Mikey tried to say, making it up. He really didn't want to go back immediately if his brother's mood was anything like the tone of voice he was using.

"Now Michelangelo." Leo said sternly.

"Ok, but it could be kind of a problem. I don't really know how I'm gonna get back down into the sewers." He said sheepishly.

"What do you mean?" Leo asked, realizing the answer before he even finished the question.

"Well..." Mike began.

"Fine, meet you down the back alley of the old newsagents, ok?"

"Ok, thanks bro" Mike said before hanging up the phone.

"Where is he?" Don asked.

"Topside. And by the sound of it, he's in town" Leo frowned.

"Town? With the humans?" Don asked with wide eyes," Did April go somewhere with him?"

"No, he's on his own. But now he said he won't be able to get back down to the sewer. I'm gonna go meet him behind the old newsagents." Leo said as picked up his katana from where it was propped against the wall.

"I'll go with ya, I need to go topside. I have been trapped down here for two days!" Raph demanded more than asked.

"I might as well come too, we can just say to sensei that we went training." Don said, shrugging and standing up.

"You are going training?"

They all turned around to see Master Splinter standing a few feet away.

"Master Splinter, we..." Leo started.

"I heard you Leonardo" He shook his head, "Go and find Michelangelo. When you get back, tell him I need to talk to him." And with that, he left for the Do-Jo...again.

"ooooooo" Raph said, a satisfied smirk on his face." Mikey's gonna get it!"

"Shut up, Raph. Come on." Leo said and all three of them ran out of the lair and into the sewers.

XXX

Mikey walked slowly through the streets of New York. He was out of the main bit of the city now so it wasn't as busy and there weren't that many people around

He looked up at the sky, not a cloud in sight, though the sky was grey. He wasn't sure what that meant. Was it that if the sky was grey it was going to snow? No, it couldn't snow, there weren't any clouds...or maybe it was _all _clouds? Oh, whatever.

The old newsagents was about five blocks away, it would probably take him about twenty minutes or so to get there.

He looked around him as he limped past the houses. There were four children playing in the front garden of one house. Running around after each other playing a game of tag. Then, what looked like the youngest tripped another boy over playfully and laughed as he did a face plant into the grassy turf. The boy pushed himself up onto his hands and knees and the other two who had been continuing the game rushed over to him to see if he was ok. They started to laugh too as the boy wiped the dirt from his head and glared at the one who had tripped him. He lunged for him but was too slow and the younger got away. He chased him until he caught up with him and tackled him to the floor and started wrestling. When the older started to laugh the other two children joined in the play fight and piled on top of them until all four were rolling around laughing helplessly.

Mikey smiled. It reminded him of himself and his brothers, when they were younger of course...

Then he watched as a woman came out of the front door and walked over to them. She lifted them off the ground and then spoke to them while brushing off their clothes. Probably saying something about them getting so dirty. All four of the children then ran inside shouting at each other. The woman smiled after them before pulling her hat further down over her head and then heading for the back garden.

Mikey shivered and pulled the trench coat tighter around him. You would think that he would be used to being cold, not wearing clothes and all. But today the wind was getting through his thick skin, despite the human clothes he had on. He carried on down the quiet street. He could see the newsagents a block away.

He studied it and realized that his brothers weren't there yet. He relaxed and slowed his pace. No point rushing. After a few more steps, his gaze fell upon something small and shining lying in the gutter, half covered in the gunk and slime from the sewer pipes. It would have gone unnoticed to any normal passer by unless someone was looking for it. Or, unless you were a ninja of course.

He bent down slowly, shifting his weight to his left foot. He wiped away some of the grime with his hand and dug out the object. It was round and gold; he rubbed the front of it with his thumb and revealed some strange markings. It looked like it was Japanese or Chinese or something like that. Certainly not English.

He flipped it over in his hand and wiped down the other side. It bore inscriptions much like the first side. I looked like it should be some sort of medallion or pendant, though there was no chain or even a hole in the circle where a chain could have been inserted. He didn't really know what to do with it, maybe someone had misplaced it. Or maybe they had simply discarded it purposely.

He looked further up the street and then back the way he had came. There was no one in sight that could have dropped it recently. He was snapped out of his thoughts by shouting," Mikey! Up here! Hurry up!" He looked up to see his brothers standing on top of the newsagents.

He slipped the pendant into his pocket and yelled back, "So much for being inconspicuous!"

"Just get your butt over here!" He recognised as Raph's voice shouting to him.

He laughed," Just my butt? That ain't gonna be much good is it?" He shouted.

He heard Raph growl of annoyance and chuckled to himself. He made his way to the foot of the corner shop and waited for his brothers to jump down next to him.

"Where have you been?" Donatello asked him.

"I..." Mikey started .

"Michelangelo, it's dangerous to come topside at the best of times, but with the humans, with a broken leg, on your own, without even telling anyone!" Leo butted in with his lecture tone of voice.

Mikey checked the things off in his brain. _Yes, yes, yep, yes. Aw shell I'm so busted...again_

"Well, I was gonna go to April's before you called and asked me to come back." He argued half heartedly.

"You expect me to believe that it took you more than an hour to get to April's? Wait, you didn't even get there! God, Mikey get a new excuse book" Leo said.

"Fine, I went to the hospital first to get some crutches and then I was goin' to April's. Happy?" He asked.

A sudden though sprung to his mind at the mention of April's. He might _actually _want to go there after all. April looked after all their money, kind of like a treasurer. They kept a small amount on them, but they couldn't but anything decent like a video game. Actually that was part of the reason Splinter had asked April to look after their money. Okay, the whole reason.

Anyway, he had wanted to get some money and then head over to the children's home. Maybe make a donation; he had been thinking about Emily and Jake while he had been walking around. He always wanted to use his ninja skills to help people, like a super hero. But apparently, Master Splinter and Leo don't like super heroes.

Now that he thought about it, how would he give the donation. He couldn't exactly walk into the home looking like a demented version of the incredible hulk.

"Fine, I'm happy because I honestly can't be bothered arguing this out with you, but I don't think Master Splinter will be satisfied." Leo said. He waved the situation off, deciding he didn't want to get involved and pulled Mikey towards the nearby manhole.

Leo jumped down first and Mikey tried to follow. He looked at the opening and tried to figure out the best way to get down. After about two minutes Raph lost his patience and came up behind Mikey. He put his hand on his back and held onto the trench coat.

"Move it!" He shouted and virtually threw his brother into the sewers.

"Raph!" Donny shouted and ran over to the manhole and peered in after Mikey, "He's got a bloody broken ankle!"

Raph listened as he heard the occasional bangs from down below where Mikey was crashing into various pipes on his way down "Oops, my bad" Raph said in a voice that indicated he couldn't care less.

Then they heard a loud crash and Leo shouting "God Mike, you ever heard of a ladder?"

"Yeah, you even heard of a broken bone?" Mike could be heard in a slurred voice.

"Well, you ever heard of asking for help?" Leo said back lamely.

"Yeah, you ever met my brother Raph?" Mikey said.

They heard Leo pick Mike up off the ground and shout ," Come on guys we haven't got all day!"

Raph looked at Don and said "It was quicker than using the ladder." He shrugged and jumped through the manhole. Don rolled his eyes and climbed in after his brothers, pulling the sewer grate over the hole as he went.

**Please review if you like it.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Please review if you like it.**

"Almost there, Mikey." Don assured his brother as they made their way through the sewers.

The bandages on Mikey's foot had gotten a bit damp on the way. Don had said it was ok because he was thinking about taking them off tomorrow; he would just do it a day early now. He said that Mikey should still use his crutches, just to make sure, even though he didn't particularly need them anymore.

They arrived at the entrance to the lair and Leo punched in the pass code. The large doors slid open to all different directions.

"Splinter wants to see you, Mikey." Leo said while removing his belt that his Katana were fastened to.

"Sure." Mike mumbled and went into the kitchen.

"Other way Mike." Don called to him.

"I know! I need to take the topside clothes off first!" He snapped.

Don blinked, looking taken aback by his younger brother's harsh tone.

Mikey shook his head and propped the crutches up against the kitchen wall. He wouldn't be needing them for much longer. Who would have thought that just one little fall on a roof top would disable his foot for almost three weeks? He was kind of happy that he got to miss training but he did miss all the fighting and action. He would be really crap with his Nunchucks when he started using them again.

He grabbed the hat on his head and threw it into the corner. It was shortly followed by the trench coat, scarf and trainers. He pulled the jumper over his head and threw it to the side of him. He heard a faint whine come from the direction his jumper had just gone in. He whipped around to see what had made the noise, only to see Klunk under the discarded jumper with her head poking out from underneath.

"Hey, Klunk!" Mikey cooed as he bent over and picked up the orange cat, "How you doin'?"

He was answered with a soft meow as she purred and brushed against his body.

"What's up? You hungry?" He asked her and he knelt down and let her jump onto the floor, "Wait a sec."

He pulled the pants off his legs with a little difficulty as he kept losing his balance and couldn't put his other leg down to steady himself. He leant on the table and pushed off towards the cupboard. He pulled out a bag of cat food and poured some of it into Klunk's food bowl. He then set it down on the floor and watched Klunk munch it up.

"Mikey! You gotta' go see Master Splinter!" Leo yelled from the main room.

_Oh yeah! Forgot about that!_

He grabbed his crutches and made for the door. Then he stopped and remembered something. He turned around and picked up the coat from the floor and rummaged in the pockets. He pulled out the strange medallion. He studied it again but could still make no sense of the inscription. He shrugged and put it away in a slot in his belt.

_Better keep that safe for now, I'll look at it later_

With that he went into the Do-Jo to see Master Splinter.

XXX

An hour later, Mikey emerged from the Do-Jo after reeling out a long list of excuses and what felt like a million flips. He sighed deeply and flopped onto the couch next to Leo.

"Hey, Leo? Aren't you supposed to be training with Splinter?" He asked his brother.

"Well, you have been in there for the last hour and I think Splinter is busy." Leo answered, shifting in his seat.

Mikey shrugged and looked around for his other brothers. There was light coming from Raph's room on the second floor and from Donny's lab.

"What did you mean before? When you said you needed a breather?" Leo asked suddenly.

Mikey turned around to face his brother. He stared at him for a long moment until Leo waved his hand in front of his face and snapped him out of it.

"Oh. Nothin' just had something on my mind. Mostly just 'cause I didn't really feel like watching a film." Mike answered, once again avoiding Leo's eye contact.

"What is it? Is something wrong?" Leo asked, concerned.

"Nah, just something Splinter said to me after we came back from getting busted a couple of weeks ago."

"What did he say?"

"Geeze Leo! What is this? Twenty questions?" Mikey snapped again, though trying to disguise his agitated air with a forced laugh. To be perfectly honest, even _he _himself didn't know what was bugging him so much. Probably just because he was so tired...

Leo set a cold stare on his little brother, his mouth set in a thin line. "No, I just want to know what's up."

Mikey opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted by Raph jumping down from the second floor.

"What's this? Havin' a little heart to heart are we?" He snickered.

"Shut up, Raph." Mike glared at him over the back of the couch.

Raph laughed, the change in Mikey's normally cheerful demeanour seemingly going right over his head, and sat in the arm chair "What'd Splinter say?"

"'bout what?" Mikey asked.

"'bout you goin' topside dumbass!" He said and lobbed the empty coke can he had been holding at Mikey's head.

"Ouch!" Mikey shouted rubbing his head, "Right, just for that I ain't tellin' ya"

"Whatever." Raph said as if he couldn't care less and he stood up and walked over to his punching bag.

"So, what about that weird hug moment you had before you went topside?" Leo asked, rejoining the conversation.

"Oh right, that. Well same as the other I guess, something Splinter said. Over it now though." He managed a smile.

"If you're sure." Leo said and leant back on the back of the couch and flicked the TV on with the remote. Mikey saw what was on the channel, one of those weird soap opera things, and stood up.

"Where you goin'" Leo asked.

"My room, I need to try and find something" He said.

"Pfft, good look in that junk yard you call your room." Leo scoffed.

"Hey! I grew up playing in the local junk yard and I resent that!" Mike said, faking hurt.

"Yeah, whatever." Leo laughed.

Despite everything that had recently been going through his mind, Mikey couldn't help but smile.

XXX

When Mikey reached his room he headed straight for his bunk bed and pushed the trash to the side so he had a place to sit on the pull out sofa. He really should tidy his room every once in a while. But, to be honest, he could never be bothered. Besides, he liked his bedroom messy. It's who he is. He chucked a few pizza boxes over his shoulders and sat on the middle of the mess of his bedroom.

He pulled out the medallion thingy and looked it over a few times. He needed to figure out what it was. It couldn't be someone's lost necklace, could it? What kind of weirdo would wear this as jewellery? It might be something important. He needed to figure out a way to translate these inscriptions, without his brothers knowing. If it _was _something important, then he wanted to be the one who found out about it.

Surely there would be something in Donny's lab that would help him out. He stood up and dashed out of the room. He manoeuvred his way towards the lab and, using his super ninja stealth, slipped in.

He looked around unsurely and found what he was looking for. There were machines and chemistry kits every where

_Aw man, Donny's gonna kill me for just comin' in here!_

He tried to keep as silent as he could as logged onto the PC, his own laptop was broken. He had his own log in on this computer in case it was an emergency and he needed to use it, but it didn't have all the fancy stuff on it that Don's had. Donny's had this special scanning thingamajig on it. Mikey couldn't really explain what it was because he wasn't actually sure himself. He had seen Don use it before and he figured it couldn't be that hard.

What Don didn't know was that Mikey knew his password for his log in. He had seen it one time when he had come into the lab looking for Don and he had been so engrossed in his work, he didn't notice the orange masked turtle. He had watched over Donny's shoulder for almost ten minutes before he had gotten bored and made his presence known to his brother.

He pushed in the power button on the computer and waited as it whirred into life. When the he saw the satisfying glow of the screen he took a seat in front of it hovered his three fingered hands over the keyboard.

_Ok, I've seen Donny do this hundreds of times_

He closed his eyes and tried to remember what he had seen his brother do, before opening them and staring at the screen.

_Right, so you open up this file..._

He thought to himself as he clicked on an icon on the desk top.

_Now you go into here. Ah ha! Right, now you click on this and..._

He watched at one of the files loaded up.

PING!

_Right, now I need to scan the inscriptions into it. But I can't really do it off of the metal..._

He looked around the lab, until he spotted what he was looking for. He pulled out an object that looked like a platter of paint that an artist would use. He rummaged through some piles of work until he found a blank sheet of paper.

He picked up the medallion and pressed it into the ink. After holding it down for a few moments, he pulled it off and examined the print it had left. Satisfied with his work, he repeated the process with the opposite side of the pendant. He was pretty sure that both sides were the same, but just to make sure.

While he waited for the ink prints to dry, he found a tattered cloth on one of the work benches and began wiping down the golden circle. Wow...even _he _was surprised at how he managed to do that without blowing something up.

He glanced at the door. Donny's gonna be here soon, sure he wouldn't get into trouble really. But he would have to tell them about his discovery. Inside of him, he knew that he really should tell them, I mean, what if it's really important? Like, life threateningly important! But, being himself, he never listened to his conscience and decided to keep it a secret. Knowing him, it will probably just be someone's lost necklace.

No, he could feel that there was more to this...

His attention was drawn back to the computer as it made a bleeping noise. He threw the rag back onto the worktop and carefully handled the printed paper into the scanner. He watched the light on the machine flicker and then move over the paper.

_Not so stupid now am I Raph!_

He gloated to himself. Who knew that spying on Don for at least three hours a week would pay off?

_Wow, three hours a week? What was he doing with his life?_

He turned back to the computer screen and sat in front of it.

_What? This can't be right! It doesn't recognise the inscriptions? _

He stared at the screen as an icon flashed up saying 'Access Denied'. He stood up and banged his fist on the table.

"You stupid computer! You're supposed to be smart! You're as dumb as a bloody doornail!" He yelled and whacked the side of the machine.

"Michelangelo? What are you doing?" Leo's voice came from the other room.

"Nothing Leo!" He called back innocently.

"Where are you?" Leo shouted to him.

_And you call yourself a ninja! I'm in here! This is where my voice is coming from dumb ass!_

He snatched the medallion from the scanner and shoved it back into his belt, hit the power button on the computer and bolted out of the door. He shut the door behind him. A little too hard maybe?...

He cringed as he heard metal colliding with the floor of Donny's lab.

"Mike? What was that! What are you doing?"

He turned to see two of his brothers looking at him.

"You went in my lab!" Don cried as he pushed past Mikey and opened the door to his lab.

"Uh, no?" he said as innocently as he could "I, uh. I was walking to my room when I, uh, fell over and landed against the door. The bang must have knocked something off of a shelf in the lab" He finished, smiling.

"But...You-..and-...but-...GAH!" Don said and ran into the lab and closed the door on Mikey.

"Where's your crutches?" Leo asked, who had been standing watching the two turtles. Mikey looked down at himself in surprise. He didn't have his crutches with him. He lifted his leg and rotated his foot around. He put it back down and smiled at Leo triumphantly.

"I didn't even notice I didn't have them!" he said excitedly. "Now I can go topside again!" The only thing that worried him was where he had left the crutches. If they were in Don's lab, then...

"There are two things wrong with that Mike." Leo said shaking his head, "One, Don said you can't do any training for at least another two days. And two, you're grounded." He said. Even through his professional rock hard face, Mikey was sure he could see almost a smirk flicker across Leo's face.

"Damn!" Mike muttered under his breath.

"How come you didn't notice that you didn't have them? You must have been in a bit of a hurry to get to your room from where ever you had come from." Leo said, looking at Mikey suspiciously.

_Trust Leo to pick out detail like that._

"Uh..." He stammered, but was cut off by Raph yelling from the kitchen.

"I'm flippin' starving! Mikey! What you makin' us for dinner!" He called.

Mike looked at Leo and gave his a cheeky smile before slipping past him before his brother could say anything else.

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	6. Chapter 6

"Do you need some help, my son?" Master Splinter asked his orange masked son.

"No thanks sensei, it's done now." Mikey smiled as he turned from the oven with a gigantic pizza in his arms.

"'Bout time Mike!" Raph shouted licking his lips, though his face was laiden with a warm smile...for once.

"I didn't see you helpin' make it, Raphie." Mikey teased, serving his family a portion of pizza each and purposely leaving Raph till last.

"Hey, don't call me that. And give me some o' that pizza!"

He watched as his family bit into his creation and smiled in satisfaction.

"This is good Mikey." Don smiled.

"As always." Mikey laughed, doing a sarcastic little bow. He turned back to the counter to pick up his own plate of pizza.

"Meow."

He looked down to see Klunk purring at his feet. "Hiya Klunk, I didn't forget about you." He smiled as he bent down and placed a piece of pizza in Klunk's food bowl.

"Uh, Mike? I'm not sure that cats are supposed to eat that sorta' thing." Leo said unsurely.

Mikey shrugged, "Aw well, she'll live." He pushed on his knees and got to his feet.

Suddenly he felt dizzy again, the same dizziness he had felt when he was back in the alley before. He brought a hand to his head and closed his eyes.

The visions flashed into his head again. Leo, Raph, Don, Himself. And now Master Splinter. All of them injured or worse, dead.

"Mike? You ok bro?" He barely heard Raph ask him as his body began to sway. He tried to open his eyes but could only see darkness. Then the screaming began. Though it was faint and could hardly be heard, it filled him with fear.

"Mikey!" He could just hear his family shout as he felt his head hit to cold kitchen floor, hard.

He felt himself being shaken and his brothers and father calling his name again, before he plunged into nothing but darkness.

**The others' POV**

"Mikey!" The three brothers and their father shouted as they watched Michelangelo collapse onto the floor. Raph, who was closest to the spot where Mike had fallen, jumped up immediately and came to his brother's side.

"Mikey! What happened bro! Wake up!" He shouted as he began to shake his brother by his shoulders.

"Don't shake him Raph!" Don shouted and ran to the same spot they were in.

"What happened, Donny!" Leo asked, alarmed.

"I don't know! He was fine a few minutes ago." Donatello answered as he lifted his brother's wrist to check his pulse.

"Michelangelo!" Splinter called, pushing his way through the three turtles crowded around him. He knelt as his side and lifted his youngest son's head.

"He's ok. He just fainted, most likely from light headedness or something like that." Don breathed.

"You call that OK?" Raph shouted, still not quite over the shock of his brother collapsing in the middle of the kitchen.

"Well, compared to other things it is. He could have had a heart attack or something. He could have been dead right now." Donatello stated matter-of-factly.

"Donny!" Leo shouted at him and hit him in the arm gently, "Not helping!"

"Ouch! What! Oh, sorry" Don said looking at the floor.

"Raphael, help me get Michelangelo onto the sofa," Master Splinter instructed his sons.

"Hai, sensei" Raph said obediently as he picked Mikey up, one arm holding up his body and the other under his knees. He hurried him into the main room of the lair and placed him gently onto the couch. His family followed quickly and gathered around the fainted turtle

"What happened, Donatello?" Splinter asked his son.

"I d- I don't know. I have no idea what could have caused him to collapse. Leo, go get me a soaked rag from the kitchen." He ordered. Leo nodded and left.

"We will have to ask him if he has eaten anything strange or something like that when he wakes up." Don said.

"When will he wake up?" Raph asked, leaning over the back of the couch to see his brother.

"Judging from his pulse and symptoms, probably in a few hours" Donatello answered. He listened as his family breathed a sigh of relief.

"So he's not got a concussion or anything?" Raph asked.

"Raph. He fainted, he didn't get knocked out. Why would he have a concussion?" Don dais, rolling his eyes.

"He might have!" Raph retorted defensively, still a little shaken.

Leo returned with a wet rag and Don placed it over Mike's brow.

"He will be awake by tonight?" Splinter asked. He had been staring at Michelangelo silently this whole time.

"I think so sensei. I mean, I hope so."

"Very well, my sons. We will leave him in peace for now."

XXX

_Aw, My head hurts like shell! What's goin' on?_

Mikey groaned as he struggled to open his eyes_. _He couldn't see anything at the moment; his vision was still blurry, most likely because of the light around him.He could feel the softness of his mattress and pillow beneath him.

_Wait, mattress? The last thing he remembered was that he was in the kitchen..._

He shot bolt upright and shook his head. When his eyes had adjusted to the light, he looked at his surroundings. He was in his room, on the pull out sofa of his bunk bed.

_How the shell did they get him up to the second floor?_

Then he noticed two members of his family around him. Master Splinter was sat in his computer chair next to his desk, asleep. And Don was sat in a chair next to the bed, also asleep. He glanced at the clock. Three in the morning.

_Wow. They must really want to make sure that he was ok if they were willing to spend the whole night in his mess of a bedroom._

All of his muscles were sore and he didn't want to move. He let out a low groan as he lifted one arm up. Don let a quiet murmur slip from his mouth and his eye lids fluttered open.

"Mikey?" He mumbled.

Mike groaned again, not having the strength to speak.

"Mikey? Mikey!" Don exclaimed.

This woke Splinter and he jumped out of his chair with a jolt.

"Michelangelo?" He asked.

Mikey made the effort to murmur "Sensei."

"Hey guys! Mikey's ok!" Donny shouted, referring to his two absent brothers.

Raph was the first to come charging into the room, "Mikey!" He exclaimed. He was shortly followed by Leo. This actually worried Mike a bit. If his family was this happy to see him, was what had happened to him really bad? Could he have died? What actually happened?

"Michelangelo? Are you alright?" Splinter asked in a concerned tone.

"Y-yes, I think so sensei." He said rubbing his head, "What happened?"

"You collapsed. Last night." Leo pitched.

Mikey looked at him puzzled ,"What? W-why? What happened?" He stammered.

"We don't know. I'll need to ask you a few questions when you're ready for it." Don said.

"But, I'm ok now right? I mean, it's not a big deal, right?" Mike asked.

"I don't know, I hope not" Don answered, "Do you remember anything about it?"

"Uh..." Mikey pondered as he tried to remember. "It was while we were havin' dinner? I made some pizza and...Oh no! Don't tell me I dropped the pizza!" He exclaimed.

His family laughed and Don chuckled "Yes, we were having dinner. But I mean, after you collapsed. Do you remember anything?"

"I think...I –I had a," He said slowly, trying to remember "A vision, or something like that. I was just walking around the kitchen and I started to go dizzy. I couldn't see anything. And then I saw... Don, it was horrible. I saw dying. Everyone dying! People screaming!" He stammered out "... and I don't know why." He finished worriedly.

He could feel tears building up but held them back. It was probably just a nightmare, not something to make a big fuss over. Wait, it couldn't just be a nightmare, it made him faint! Although...it could have been a _daymare?_

"Wow, that _is_ odd. Well you just better get some rest now." Don said as he stood up,"It's the middle of the night. We can investigate it in the morning."

He nodded and left the room, closely followed by Leo and Raph.

"Seeya in the morning, Mikey" Leo managed to smile.

"You better not faint on me again bro. You scared the shii..." He glanced at Master Splinter, "...You scared me half to death. Not to mention you mucked up a perfectly good pizza!" Raph added jokingly, though Mikey could see it was hard for his brother to put on a brave face.

Mikey chuckled to himself at Raph's near slip up of speech near their sensei, while Splinter just shook his head before turning to Mikey. "I hope you will feel well again in the morning, Michelangelo" He said softly.

"Yes, thank you sensei." He replied and let himself be gently pushed back down onto his pillow.

"Good night." Splinter said and then left the room, flicking the light off as he went. Mikey watched him leave. When he was sure they were out of ear shot he pushed the sheets off him and sat up.

_How did they expect him to sleep now! He had almost died! Well, not really, but still._

He reached to his side and turned on the side lamp in his room. He waited for the light to warm up and get brighter so he could see around.

_Messy bedroom, nothing new here_

Suddenly he remembered. He jolted up right and searched his being, until he found the golden pendant in his belt.

_Maybe it's time to show them my discovery? Maybe tomorrow. Right now I can try and figure out what's going on_

_Right. so, first I have a dizzy spell in the middle of the street. Seeing visions of my family, harmed. That must be something to do with what I was thinking about before I went topside, and what Splinter had said. Ok, so now I know why I had those particular memories. Next, I find a mysterious golden thingy and it's so mysterious, that the computer doesn't even recognise it! A few hours later, I get another dizzy spell, with the same visions. But it's stronger and actually knocks me out! Could the visions and the pendant be related? There is no real way to tell. _

_Because, one, the dizziness could just be a side effect to some medicine or painkillers or something and it gets worse every time it happens. And, two, I didn't even have the pendant the first time I almost collapsed. And, three, It could just be some dumb necklace!_

He closed his eyes and brought his hands to his head in frustration

_This is going to be harder than I thought._

Deciding that he was too tired to think anymore, he set the medallion down on his bedside table and reached to flick the lamp off. Thinking twice about it, he pulled a few rags that he used as super hero capes (_when I was younger, I mean, what loser plays super heroes at this age! Heh,heh...) _to cover the pendant up. Then he turned out the light and drifted to sleep.

**Please review!**


	7. Chapter 7

"Ahhhhhhh" Mikey awoke from the most terrible nightmare he had ever had. He grasped the thick sheets and ripped them way from his damp body. He lay in his bed for a moment, gasping for breath. He wiped his hand across his brow and wiped away some of the sweat trickling into his eyes.

The dream had come back to him. Of everyone dying. But this time, it was clearer, more real, like he was actually there. He rolled onto his side and stared at the dark walls of the room. Then, his attention was drawn to a pile of cloth, of super hero capes. It was glowing golden. Michelangelo's eyes widened and he reached to grab the cape. He yanked it away to reveal the pendant. It's inscriptions were glowing gold. He stared at it, mesmerized by the magical golden light. When the glow faded away, Mikey shook his head and picked up the medallion.

_Why is this happening to me? Why does it choose to mess why my brain! Why not Don's! His has more smart stuff in it!_

He lowered his head and stared into his lap. He was so confused. He was on the brink of tears when he heard the door open, though the light was off outside so he couldn't see who it was. It was a turtle, that's what he could make out.

"Mikey?" The turtle said and flicked the light on.

It was Donatello

"Are you OK, Mike?" Don asked again.

Mikey looked up at his brother, his vision blurry because of the water in his eyes. "Donny? I need to tell you something" He said, balling his fist up around the amulet.

"Yeah? What's up Mike? You OK?" Don said and walked further into the room, closing the door behind him. He walked over and sat on Mikey's bed. Mikey opened his hand up and revealed the golden pendant to Donatello.

Don stared at it, confused. "What- what is that?" He asked.

"I found it." Mikey replied shakily and stretched his hand out further to Don.

Donatello hesitantly took the pendant from Mike. When his hands made contact with it, it started to glow bright gold again. Don stared at it as if it was a ghost. But Mikey just looked at it sadly. It glowed brightly for three seconds, and then it died down again/

Don lifted his head to look at Mike," Mikey..." He breathed.

"I found it. When I went out the other day. I-" Mikey started but was cut off by a tremendous crash that shook the whole lair.

Mike and Don jumped up quickly, Don dropping the pendant onto the bed, and raced to the door. Mikey threw the door open hurriedly and his heart sank into his stomach when he saw the state of the lair. The ceiling had collapsed, revealing the sewers above. And every piece of furniture had been crushed underneath the rubble.

He looked around frantically to see what had happened, and where his family were. He saw that the cave in has fallen in front of Master Splinter's room's door, blocking anyone from getting in or out.

"Michelangelo! Donatello!" He looked up quickly to see Leonardo and Raphael standing across the Lair on the second floor balcony.

"Leo!" Don cried,"What happened! What's going on!"

"I don't know! Where's Master Splinter!" Leo shouted back.

"Leo!" Raph shouted and pointed to the top of the mound of rocks Mikey gasped. He felt like falling down and dying right there and then. This was _not _go.

Standing on top of the wreckage was, The Shredder!

"Shredder!" Leo growled,"What are you doing here! How did you find us!" He half screamed.

The Shredder laughed menacingly "You have something I want. Kill them!" He shouted the last part and suddenly, a fleet of Foot Ninja emerged from behind him.

"Your gonna pay for this Shredder!" Raph growled.

Shredder just laughed again. "Not before you do!" He said and stepped back to let the ninjas pass and destroy the turtles.

"Guys! Don't let them win!" Leo shouted.

"Thanks for the great advice, Captain Obvious!" Raph shouted back and leaped down from the balcony to take on the dozen foot ninja charging towards him.

Mikey blinked dazedly. What the shell had just happened? Whatever it was, it was all happening too quickly, it didn't even seem real. It felt like a dream, where everything happened all at once and nothing made sense. How on earth had the Shredder gotten here? One minute Mikey was sat in his bedroom talking to Don, then next minute, The Shredder's standing in their living room screaming KILL THEM! Like a complete crazed maniac...well, to be honest...he _is _a complete crazed maniac...but the point is, it can't be happening!

He shook his head. Dream or no dream, he needed to do something. Mikey jumped down next and whipped out his nun chucks from his belt and started whirling them around over his head.

Donatello pushed himself off the floor and propelled himself across to the other side of the room when he drew his bo-staff and prepared to fight. Leo did the same.

"How'd they find the lair?" Raph shouted, while fly kicking a ninja into the wall.

That was another thing that didn't make any sense _at all._

"I don't know!" Don shouted back "I made sure that no one but us would be able to find it! I don't understand!"

Leonardo stabbed one of the black masked ninjas and then abandoned the rest, leaping onto the pile of collapsed ceiling to face The Shredder.

"How did you find us!" He demanded, "What do you want!"

"You know what I want!" Shredder raged, "The universal equalizer!"

Mikey's mouth dropped open and he just managed to avoid being kicked in the head by a ninja flying at him.

He glanced at Don who was trying to bash away a group of attackers with his staff. When he had a spare moment, Don turned and shot an alarming look at Mikey.

_Universal equalizer! That's what the pendant was!...woah...what four year old came up with that name?_

In a spurt of adrenaline, Mikey took out about half a dozen ninja in three seconds and the leaped back up onto the second floor balcony.

"Ninja! Get him!" Shredder shouted when he noticed Michelangelo.

_Buddy, you picked the wrong mutant turtle's lair to break into!_

He glared at the ninja running towards him and sprinted in the direction of his room.

"You fools! Don't let him get away!" Shredder roared, "Kill him!"

_Woah, anger issues much?_

Leonardo seized his chance and sprang at The Shredder with his katana. But the Shredder noticed him out of the corner of his eye and turned and managed to intercept the attack before it reached him.

XXX

Michelangelo ducked and dodged the knives and large pieces of rocks being thrown at him by the foot. By now the entrance to his room was blocked so he was having to climb through gaps and dig through rubble while trying not to be killed by ninja lobbing stuff at him.

Suddenly, while he was trying to knock his way through a wall of fallen rocks, he started to go light headed.

_No! Not now! Please not now!_

He had to stop digging to lean against the rubble. Amazingly, the ninjas hadn't managed to get him yet. He started to breath heavily and his vision was blurring. He could make out a glowing light on the other side of the mound, he was so close, yet so far.

He closed his eyes as he began to get dizzy. The next thing he knew he had been knocked to the ground by a massive explosion behind him. His head was clearing and he managed to lift his body from the floor enough to see that the wall blocking him from his room had been destroyed and the whole of his bedroom was shining.

He had to shield his eyes from the brilliant light. With a great effort, he heaved himself to his feet and staggered towards the source of the light. The medallion.

He made his way towards it, holding his hands out in front of him and feeling the way as he could not see through the bright light.

When he got closer to the pendant, he tripped and fell face first onto his bed. The whole world seemed to be slipping away from him. The ninja, The Shredder, the lair, his family, his life.

Now he was pretty sure this was not a dream. Or if it was...it was _very _realistic. Although it wasn't a dream, that medallion _thing _was obviously doing something to him to make it feel like one. They hadn't had to deal with The Shredder for ages, and now he shows up in the lair looking for that thing! He wished he's never found the bloody thing in the first place!

He gathered all the strength he could muster and reached a shaking arm out in the direction of the light source. The light was fading from his eyes, his strength from his body. He could almost reach it, almost there.

Then, he fainted. His body lying there motionless. His legs twisted behind him from when he had fallen, one arm squashed under his body, the other arm inches away from the medallion.

It was over, The Shredder would kill his family. Even if he could have reached the medallion, he had no idea what would happen or what he would do. He laid there unconscious for minutes. Until, the light started to seep across the floor of the room. It enveloped him and seeped over his body. It soaked into his skin and made his body glow brightly.

He could feel it, even in his unconscious state, he could feel the energy flowing through him. Until he had enough power in his body to open his eyes. He jumped up quickly and backed away from the medallion. He looked down at his green hands. They were glowing golden, the same golden glow that was radiating from the pendant's inscriptions.

Mikey closed his eyes and took a deep breath in. He felt air rushing around him in a hurricane whirl wind. When he opened his eyes again, he was in the main chamber of the lair with his brothers and The Shredder and the Foot again. But now he was...floating! He was surrounded by more bright light...

_...I like this dream!_

His brothers were staring at him, wide eyed. He knew how they must have felt because he was feeling it too.

_What the hell was happening!_

But, rather than panic and burst into tears, he decided that the best thing to do was act like he had everything under control and knew what was going on. He saw that the Shredder was also gaping at him.

Michelangelo almost smiled. He was high up in the air and looking down on the Shredder felt amazing! He calmed himself down again and said ,"Shredder! I think I have what you are looking for." He liked the way his voice echoed powerfully off the walls of the lair, making him sound like a god. An angry god at that.

Mikey held out his arm towards The Shredder and uncurled his fist, showing him the big round medallion. He watched as The Shredder gasped and then howled in rage. "The Universal Equalizer!"

Mikey almost laughed out loud hearing Shredder saying the name of it. It sounded so typical and...stupid.

But he pulled himself together "You want it Shredder?" Mikey asked, enjoying being able to tease his arch enemy. He became serious again and glared at The Shredder ,"Well, good luck. Because you're not getting it!" He roared and threw the amulet as hard as he could at the wall of the lair.

The last thing he heard was The Shredder screaming ,"NOOOOOOO!" before the whole lair exploded in front of him.

**Review ****J**** Thankyou**


	8. Chapter 8

**Re-posted, new and improved (hopefully) last chapter :) **

**I feel this plot is unfinshed. So review if you want me to continue the story with anither fic. Otherwise, just enjoy what is here!**

_Ouch. My head hurts. My arms ache. My legs ache. What the shell did Shredder do to hi... The Shredder!_

Mikey leaped up from his position faced down on the floor. A sharp pang of pain surged through his head and he doubled over and clutched his forehead. He stayed there for moments, clenching his teeth. Wanting to stand straight and see what was going on, but unable to move. He decided finally that instead of tensing himself up and willing the throbbing to go away, he could try relaxing. This was very hard to do at a time like this. But he had to try anyway. He relaxed his muscles in his face, and body, and took a deep breath. Then another. And another. About a minute later, his head had (mostly) cleared up and he was able to stand up again.

Lifting his head slowly, he stood up and looked at his surroundings. He froze as his eyes darted from side to side, unable to comprehend what was happening. He was in his room again. Though now, everything was back to normal. The ceiling was back where it was supposed to be, up above his head and not in a wreckage on the floor. The fire that had once been alight there, burning up his possessions and destroying his home, were now gone. Everything was fine.

He turned around to look behind him at the floor, where he had been laying before. He was next to his bed...almost like he had had a bad dream and fallen from the bed in a frantic struggle to escape the horrid thoughts. He scratched his head in thought and then quickly remembered something. Where was the penda-... Universal equalizer...thing? He wondered whether the whole scene with the Shredder had, in fact, been all a dream. In which case, the medallion should have been where it was when he had gone to sleep. Under the pile of sheets on the floor.

He looked around the room until he laid his eyes on a large pile of junk at the floor of his bed. He made his way over to it and laid his hand on the top. He carefully peeled back the top sheet to see...nothing. It was gone. Along with every other thing that could have proved to him that it had all been real.

He stood up straight again and stood still, thinking it all over. He started to move around in a circle on the spot, watching the walls of his room. What was happening? Was he going crazy?

"Donny!" He finally shouted frantically, "Donny! Leo! Raph! Sensei!" He shouted again, not moving from his spot.

He watched the door as it was flung open. Leo almost literally dived through the door and stared at Mikey with alarmed eyes, "Mikey! What's wrong?" He asked quickly.

Next came Don, almost imitating Leo's moves, "You okay Mike? What's happening?"

Finally, Sensei and Raph appeared at the doorway, not saying anything but with a look of concern on their faces, glancing around the room.

"Y-you guys are okay?" Mikey asked slowly, trying figure out whether he would sound like a complete nut-job or not...the answer was yes.

Raph rolled his eyes and, once he had made sure there was no real threat to his brother, retreated back to the TV sets. Donatello looked at him questioningly, "Yes...Of course we're alright. Why wouldn't we be?" He asked.

Mikey stared at Don for a moment and then looked at Leo, then to Master Splinter.

"Well," Leo said, "If there's nothing of danger here, then I think I'll be getting back to my book." He nodded once at sensei and then left. Mikey watched him, almost curious as to why Leo was reading a book in the first place.

"Michelangelo," He was drawn back to Master Splinter and Don by Sensei saying his name, "What is wrong?" He asked worriedly and suspiciously.

"Um, nothing...I guess," Mikey said. He debated whether to tell them what was really wrong or not. He still wasn't quite sure what was actually wrong himself, "I must have had a bad dream and fallen out of bed," He decided on.

Master Splinter nodded and walked closer to him, "Well, If you are sure. Then I wi-" he started before he was interrupted by Raphael's voice bellowing from the other room.

"Guys! Guys! It's snowing!" He said excitedly.

Don looked at him questioningly, "Uh, Raph. It's been snowing frequently over the past three weeks. The novelty value wore off about...2 and a half weeks ago," He said, adding a little sarcasm on the end.

Raph carried on undeterred, "Yeah, but Donny. It's gold!" He beamed, a smile spread across his face.

Mikey stared at him as his jaw dropped. As did Donatello's, "Excuse me?" he said.

Raph rolled his eyes, "It's on the news! Come on!" He said, grabbing Mikey's arm and pulling him out of the room, followed by Don. Master Splinter shook his head and reluctantly followed his sons.

When they reached the TV, Leo was perched on the edge of the sofa, staring dumb-foundedly at the TV. Mikey was once again astonished as he saw the screen. April was standing there as the new reporter, a smile spread wide across her face. She was in the park in the middle of the city. Behind her, children were running around wildly, and parents gazing up into the sky. But the most amazing thing was that golden sheet that covered the ground, and gold specs scattered in their hair and on their clothes. April was holding a micro-phone to her lips, talking about how unbelievably amazing this miracle was.

"Oh wow," Donny breathed. He turned to his brothers, "Come on! Let's go topside!" He said excitedly. Then he glanced at Master Splinter hopefully. The elderly rat once again closed his eyes shook his head, making the expression on Donny's face drop. But apparently, he was only saying no to himself, because he then said, "Go on then. If you must." He said and smiled.

Don's smile once again returned as he dashed into the kitchen to grab his human clothes. He was soon followed by Raph and Leo.

Mikey stayed put, his eyes locked on the TV.

_Wait a minute...I thought I'd just woken up from the dream? How can there be golden coloured snow? And why were his brothers (especially Donny) more interested in going to play in the snow then trying to figure out why this was actually happening?_

"Michelangelo?" Master Splinter said, "Are you not going with your brothers?" He asked.

Mikey turned to him and smiled. He then nodded, "Are you coming?" He asked the rat.

Master Splinter shook his head for the third time, but this time it actually meant a 'No'

Mikey nodded again, "Okay then. Seeya later, Sensei," He said and raced towards the kitchen. No doubt his father was suspicious about what was going on, but that was just natural for a trained ninja, he more than likely would get them all together to figure it out afterwards. But he seemed to be convinced that this was not dangerous.

He pulled on all of his own clothes and headed for the door. His brothers had already been and gone, though he could hear echoing footsteps as they ran through the sewers. Mikey set off at a sprint to catch up with them, easily matching the strides they had taken before him, if not at almost double their speed. As his brothers came into view he smiled as he caught them up and stayed close on their heel. Sometimes he loved being the fastest of the four, if anything to win in a game of ninja man-hunt.

When they all reached the ladder, Donny was the first to jump onto it and start to climb up, obviously eager to see what was happening. The other three followed and they soon surfaced in an alley.

When Mikey emerged, he gasped. Though not much snow was getting to the alley floor, due to awning and such, he could still see sprinkles of the sparkling snow. He made his way over to a dumpster and ran his hand along the top of it, scooping up a ball of snow. He brought his hand to his face and peered at the smooth snow. He found it most beautiful, and amazing, and...Impossible. But hey, when you're an over-grown mutant turtle that knows ninjitsu, anything's possible!

Raph, now bored of the admiring at the cramped space of the alley, ran to the corner of one of the buildings that were boxing them in. He pulled his hat down to his eyes, and his scarf up past his nose. He then took off into the park.

"Woah," Don said, scooping up some of the sand like substance and letting it run through his fingers. "Amazing," He marvelled before following Raph.

Leo grinned again, "Pretty cool huh?" He said to his brother. Mikey nodded. "So," Leo said, "This top your bad dream?" He asked.

Mikey smiled as he let out a laugh. "You could defiantly say that," He grinned and then ran away from Leo in the direction his other two brothers had gone. He ran to the park, keeping his eyes on the floor the whole way, not wanting to ruin the surprise of how everything would look until he got there. And when he did, he froze.

He stared in wonder and amazement at the sight before him. The whole of the once green ground, was covered in golden. It almost looked like it was glowing, such a vast area completely covered with dazzling snow. It lay calmly on the tree tops, shimmering and looking magical. That's what this was. Magical. Out of this world. Every snowflake as it fell through the sky sparkled like fairy dust. As children ran around throwing snowballs at each other, the scene looked like something out of a fairy tale...well, apart from all the office blocks and buildings of New York that is.

The huge Christmas tree in the middle of the park, now covered in sparkling gold, shone brightly as the lights hung around it added to the excitement and wonder.

Leo had now ran past him and gone to join Don and Raph. Mikey checked whether his brothers were safely covered up and weren't in danger of being recognised. This was normally Leo's job...but he looked a little distracted at the moment.

Mikey was brought to attention by a voice, quite near him, shouting, "Hiya!"

He spun around quickly and came faced to a little girl. Emily, was standing in front of him. "Hi Mike! Look at this!" She said excitedly, bouncing up and down.

Mikey smiled as he pulled his hat down further subconsciously. He grinned again as he saw Jake running towards them, "Mike! Your ankle's better! It's snowing! It's gold! It's amazing! It's fantastic! It's awesome!" He said, sounding just slightly hyper...

Mikey couldn't think of anything to say. He just looked down at the pair and then up to the sky, then back at them again. He glanced at the large toy shop across the road from the park, and then at the children's home a bit further down. He smiled as his eyes went watery. It was a good thing no one could see his eyes anyway. "Jake. Emily." He said slowly as they looked up at him, "Merry Christmas,"

_Wow...how soft was he becoming?_

Emily and Jake smiled widely back at him, "You too!" Jake said and then looked over to where the woman from the other day was standing, "I'll see you later Mike!" He said and then ran off, leaving Emily with Mikey.

Mikey was taken by surprise when Emily wrapped her arms around his waist and hugged him, "Merry Christmas," She said then also ran off.

Mikey watched them go and smiled to himself, a warm feeling gathering inside him. When the two children had run off across the park and were out of sight, he looked up at the sky once again. He held up his hands, cupped together, and felt the cold snow gather in his hands. He held his arms higher above his head and raised them to the sky.

Suddenly, a rather bright glow started up in the palm of his hands. His eyes widened.

_Oh no, what's going on now?_

He closed his eyes and let the feeling of energy surge into his hands and through his arms. When the glowing had stopped, he brought his hands back down to his chest level and his jaw dropped when he saw what was there.

A golden medallion. Inscriptions calved into it. Though, they were dim and not so endearing. He readied himself for another dizzy moment. But nothing came.

This made no sense at all. It couldn't have been a dream. And it couldn't have been real, could it? And this can't be real. But it is. Ow, his mind hurt from all this thinking.

Then Don came over to him," Mikey? What's up? Who were those two kids? Why wer-" He started asking questions until he noticed what Mikey was holding, "Where did you get that?" He asked, "It looks familiar..." He said and trailed off.

Mikey stared at him again, urging him to carry on.

"...Nah, I don't remember," Don finally finished, "I must have seen something like it in a shop or on TV or something. Anyway, it looks pretty cool," He smiled.

Mikey nodded. Well, this would all have to wait until later to be figured out. Because now, he just wanted to enjoy himself. "Hey, watch this," He whispered to Don. Mikey crouched down and scooped up a large ball of shimmering snow. He drew his arm back and then threw the ball in the direction of his red-masked brother. He grinned as it hit Raphael in the face.

"What the? Mikey!" Raph shouted angrily.

Mikey laughed as he started to run away from the enraged turtle. Now this was the way he liked things.

"I swear when I catch you!...GET BACK HERE!"


End file.
